Emerging markets wobbled in January, as emerging markets do, and one of the worst affected was Turkey, with its sizeable current account deficit and its political troubles. Rather than cowering in the shadows, however, Turkey responded by issuing its longest ever bond, in an audacious transaction masterminded by BNP Paribas.
Emerging market securities have had a good run since the financial crisis, reflecting rates of economic growth that were painfully lacking in more developed economies. If bond investors were not attracted by the growth itself, they certainly were by the yields, which compared very favourably with anything on offer in the developing world.
